Replacement of Vanadium by Ferrovanadium in Ti-Based BCC Alloys for Hydrogen Storage

Abstract

Ti-based BCC solid solutions are promising hydrogen storage applications. Unfortunately, the application of these alloys in large scale is hindered by the high cost of vanadium. The solution of this problem may be to replace vanadium by ferro-vanadium (FeV). Here, we report our recent investigation of compositions TiV1-xMn1+x and Ti(FeV)1-xMn1+x where x = -0.2, -0.1, 0, 0.1, 0.2. Each composition was synthesized by arc melting. No subsequent heat treatment was performed. The alloys’ crystal structure in as-cast state and after hydrogenation was inspected by X-ray powder diffraction. We found that replacement of vanadium by ferrovanadium had the positive effect of destabilization of the hydride which makes it more useful for practical applications. Also even if the total hydrogen capacity was reduced, the reversible capacity could be improved. We found that replacement of vanadium by ferrovanadium drastically change the crystal structure of hydrogenated compounds.